LaHood: I'm talking with Obama about staying

12/5/12 1:17 PM EST

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he and President Obama will discuss his future in the Cabinet once Obama is finished with the fiscal cliff negotiations.

“He and I are going to continue our discussions,” LaHood told POLITICO Wednesday. “We had a meeting a week or so after the election and we agreed to continue talking. … I think the president will get back to some of these discussions after some kind of a deal is reached on the fiscal matters.”

LaHood, the lone Republican in Obama’s Cabinet, declined to reveal details of his conversation with Obama. He had been expected to leave the Transportation Department when the president’s first term ends, though on Wednesday left the door open to returning.

“They’re dealing 24-7 now with how to get a deal with Congress,” LaHood said. “So I’m waiting” until a deal is finished to make a final determination of his status.

Incoming House Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) told POLITICO Tuesday that LaHood told him that he “may be staying for a while.”